The influential piracy paper by Professors Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf, although mainly based on proprietary data, contained an “important complement” to the main results, consisting of four “quasi-experiments” using publicly available data. This replication examines all of these quasi-experiments by using identical data and statistical methods where possible, as well as sometimes extending or augmenting the data or methods. This study concludes that the quasi-experiments performed by OS each contain important errors, oversights or inconsistencies that most often, but not completely, overturn the results claimed in the original OS article.

JEL Classification:

Assessment

Links

Cite As

Stan J. Liebowitz
(2017).
A replication of four quasi-experiments and three facts from ‘The effect of file sharing on record sales: an empirical analysis’ (Journal of Political Economy, 2007).
Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal,
11
(2017-13):
1–21.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2017-13